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4. In September 1982 agreement
was
reached during the Prime
Minister's visit to Peking to enter into negotiations with
For ourselves of course it was clear from the
this purpose.
start that any agreement must be one we could honourably commend to the people of Hong Kong and to Parliament, and one which they would find acceptable.
5. In the early stages of the talks we explored whether it
might be possible, in the interest of minimum change, to
secure agreement to continued British administration in Hong
Kong after 1997, on the basis of our recognition of China's
sovereignty over the whole territory. It became clear
however that a
a solution along these lines would not be
acceptable to the Chinese Government. We concluded that a
breakdown in the talks, with all the uncertainties that this
would have created, would not serve the best interests of the
people of Hong Kong. Indeed it would have had very serious
consequences for prosperity and stability. We therefore
decided, with the support of the Governor and the Executive
Council in Hong Kong, to explore Chinese ideas for Hong Kong
as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic
of China, enjoying a high degree of autonomy and the maximum
possible degree of continuity in its systems and way of life.
CONFIDENTIAL